Tennessee Value Added Assessment System scores for 2020-2021 have been released by the Tennessee Department of Education as of Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
Tennessee was the first state in the Union to create a value-added system to reflect individual student growth and measure it over the course of their academic career. Since the “starting line” of education for each student is different, TVAAS provides a measurement to accurately reflect the progress of each one and to provide focus on needed areas that become evident.
Robertson County Schools is proud of continued progress, particularly considering last year’s pandemic experience. System-wide, this report shows that the district scored the highest possible score of five in all composites. These scores are measurements of student growth over the course of a school year.
An Exemplary rating is the desired objective for school districts. RCS has progressed from a “needs improvement,” district, to “advancing,” (meeting growth expectations), and despite the turmoil of last year, continues to move towards the Exemplary level. The TDOE news release revealed a total of 11 RCS schools that earned a score of five and two more scoring a four in school composite scores. To put that in perspective, a TVAAS score of three is indicative of expected growth, with lower numbers reflecting less than expected, and higher ones showing more than expected.
Lewis Walling, RCS Supervisor of System Data said the scores are extremely encouraging.
“Overall, this is fabulous news,” he said. “As a district we were significantly above expectations. This will elevate our position even further.”
“This validates the work that teachers do,” he noted. “It is evidence of work in the classroom and tells us that even though we’re not yet at the achievement level we want, we’re moving our students along at a rate that significantly outpaces expectations. The achievement scores will come if we continue this level of progress.”
“Teachers did a great job last year of getting our students to grow in the middle of the most difficult school year imaginable,” he continued. “The year was the hardest in my career, and I shared that with teachers, because they were truly exemplary. This data validates their efforts because despite the pandemic, we exceeded pre-pandemic expectations.”
Director of Schools, Dr. Chris Causey echoed Walling’s sentiments, saying, “Only two years ago, we were ecstatic when five of our schools scored the highest TVAAS level of five, which was the most we had ever had in Robertson County. Then COVID hit, and while many of us considered 20-21 as the school year to be in ‘survival mode’, our teachers stepped up and demonstrated that growth was possible despite the challenges. Amazingly, they simply worked even harder. Our students were the beneficiaries of that work, and we could not be more proud of the results we now see.”
As a district, RCS is resolutely committed to the core vision of enabling our students to reach and exceed high academic standards. These new scores reflect the district’s continuing dedication to that vision.
Schools Receiving Level 5 Status:
- Crestview Elementary
- Cheatham Park Elementary
- Coopertown Middle
- Krisle Elementary
- Springfield Middle
- East Robertson Elementary
- East Robertson High
- Greenbrier Elementary
- Jo Byrns Elementary
- White House Heritage Elementary
- White House Heritage High
